deadeyerichard
New member
I've been on a 3 year bear quest. In 2007 one of my co-workers mentioned his father in law was a guide down on the Salmon River in The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area. He runs for steelhead and bears. I've loved hunting coyotes for the last few years and thought this might take that adrenalin rush to a new level. He only did spot and stalk hunts. No baits, no dogs, no fourwheelers. Just your own two legs taking you as far as you could go. I also found his lodge was 18 miles from the closest road and was only accessible by jet boat! I know I'm a small timer, but that sounded too good to be true. We scheduled a weekend and away we went. We saw bighorn sheep, elk, deer (muleys and whitetail), mountain goats, a wolf, and one bear.
Here is a picture from one of the hikes looking down onto the lodge. This picture gives you an idea of the ruggedness and steepness of this country.
As I mentioned earlier, we saw exactly one bear. As I was hiking through a dead fall I looked up and saw a large chocolate bear looking at me. As soon as we made eye contact he bolted. Because of the roll of the hill I had to sprint straight up for about 25 yards to keep him in my sight. Once I got to a point where I could take a shot, he stopped! He jumped up on a log and just stood there, looking at me. Well after the sprint and the adrenalin dump, I shot and missed. After the bear ran off, I ranged the shot at ~112 yards. That was a tough pill to swallow. I've been trying to work that one out of my system for the last three years. Now fast forward to last year. I made two DIY trips to the same unit and didn't see a thing. We put in a lot of miles and had a good time, but didn't get rid of the bitterness from the horrific miss of 2007. Well spring 2009 finally rolled around. I planned 4 days to hunt and knew this would be the only time I would be able to get out. It was do or die for 2009. I planned 2 days to hunt with my brother and the last 2 days with my co-worker and his father in law. The two days with my brother were very enjoyable. I really love spending time with him. We had a good time, but didn't see any bears. He left home and I joined up with my buddy and his father in law. Early the 3rd morning we jumped in the boat and headed downriver. After a short 3 1/2 hour hike we settled in to glass. Here is a picture of us half way up the mountain.
I'm the one on the right with the healthy chin. The other guy is our guide. He is 72 years old and must be half elk because he climbed those hills like he was 20. I know I'm not in good shape, but seriously! I mean the guy is a great grandpa. Next time I need to make some time for the gym. Here are a couple more scenery pictures from the same location.
Well after glassing for about 45 minutes we found a bear. He is a good looking, nice sized, chocolate bear and he is straight out in front of us across a large ravine. I told my buddy he could have the first shot and that I would start shooting immediatley after. We ranged the bear at 420 yards and that was as close as we were going to be able to get. My buddy was shooting a .300 WM and I shoot a 7mm RM. My buddy shot and the bear didn't move an inch. He had missed high. 2 seconds later as soon as I felt my shot was on, I squeezed the trigger and just missed low. The bullet threw dirt up in the bears face and he spun around and headed into the trees. We anxiously glassed for a few seconds and finally saw him heading up hill out of the pines. I called out his location and found him in my scope. He stopped broad side for a moment and I shot again. This time he crumpled in his tracks. We did a final range and it was 458 yards on the Leica LRF. After a 1 hour grunt through the thickest steepest mountains I've ever been in, I finally held my bear in my own hands. He is a beautiful 5'2" chocolate boar with a perfect coat. I couldn't be more pleased and happy. If I had 30 bears to pick from, this would be it. Here are a couple of the pictures we took.
After he went down, he actually started rolling down the hill. He ended up rolling over 300 yards straight down. Because of his new location we ended up having to cross a creek to get to a new trail for the pack out. This picture doesn't do this creek justice. It was really roaring. Fortunately none of us went swimming.
And finally, here is a picture of me picking sticks and dirt off the skinned hide back at camp. I had a perma-grin attached to my face the whole rest of the weekend and my "victory Mt. Dew" was the best tasting I'd had in years.
This was the most exhausting hunt I've ever been on. I've never worked so hard for an animal in my life. I practiced with my gun a couple of times a week for a month and a half prior to this hunt and it obviously paid off. The only thing I would do better is get in better shape. I was completely and totally physically spent by the end of those four days and I loved every minute of it.
Here is a picture from one of the hikes looking down onto the lodge. This picture gives you an idea of the ruggedness and steepness of this country.
As I mentioned earlier, we saw exactly one bear. As I was hiking through a dead fall I looked up and saw a large chocolate bear looking at me. As soon as we made eye contact he bolted. Because of the roll of the hill I had to sprint straight up for about 25 yards to keep him in my sight. Once I got to a point where I could take a shot, he stopped! He jumped up on a log and just stood there, looking at me. Well after the sprint and the adrenalin dump, I shot and missed. After the bear ran off, I ranged the shot at ~112 yards. That was a tough pill to swallow. I've been trying to work that one out of my system for the last three years. Now fast forward to last year. I made two DIY trips to the same unit and didn't see a thing. We put in a lot of miles and had a good time, but didn't get rid of the bitterness from the horrific miss of 2007. Well spring 2009 finally rolled around. I planned 4 days to hunt and knew this would be the only time I would be able to get out. It was do or die for 2009. I planned 2 days to hunt with my brother and the last 2 days with my co-worker and his father in law. The two days with my brother were very enjoyable. I really love spending time with him. We had a good time, but didn't see any bears. He left home and I joined up with my buddy and his father in law. Early the 3rd morning we jumped in the boat and headed downriver. After a short 3 1/2 hour hike we settled in to glass. Here is a picture of us half way up the mountain.
I'm the one on the right with the healthy chin. The other guy is our guide. He is 72 years old and must be half elk because he climbed those hills like he was 20. I know I'm not in good shape, but seriously! I mean the guy is a great grandpa. Next time I need to make some time for the gym. Here are a couple more scenery pictures from the same location.
Well after glassing for about 45 minutes we found a bear. He is a good looking, nice sized, chocolate bear and he is straight out in front of us across a large ravine. I told my buddy he could have the first shot and that I would start shooting immediatley after. We ranged the bear at 420 yards and that was as close as we were going to be able to get. My buddy was shooting a .300 WM and I shoot a 7mm RM. My buddy shot and the bear didn't move an inch. He had missed high. 2 seconds later as soon as I felt my shot was on, I squeezed the trigger and just missed low. The bullet threw dirt up in the bears face and he spun around and headed into the trees. We anxiously glassed for a few seconds and finally saw him heading up hill out of the pines. I called out his location and found him in my scope. He stopped broad side for a moment and I shot again. This time he crumpled in his tracks. We did a final range and it was 458 yards on the Leica LRF. After a 1 hour grunt through the thickest steepest mountains I've ever been in, I finally held my bear in my own hands. He is a beautiful 5'2" chocolate boar with a perfect coat. I couldn't be more pleased and happy. If I had 30 bears to pick from, this would be it. Here are a couple of the pictures we took.
After he went down, he actually started rolling down the hill. He ended up rolling over 300 yards straight down. Because of his new location we ended up having to cross a creek to get to a new trail for the pack out. This picture doesn't do this creek justice. It was really roaring. Fortunately none of us went swimming.
And finally, here is a picture of me picking sticks and dirt off the skinned hide back at camp. I had a perma-grin attached to my face the whole rest of the weekend and my "victory Mt. Dew" was the best tasting I'd had in years.
This was the most exhausting hunt I've ever been on. I've never worked so hard for an animal in my life. I practiced with my gun a couple of times a week for a month and a half prior to this hunt and it obviously paid off. The only thing I would do better is get in better shape. I was completely and totally physically spent by the end of those four days and I loved every minute of it.
